


Lovely

by sea_murai



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Biting, But there isn't a lot of angst, Coughing Blood, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Hair-pulling, Johnny is so in love with V and he wears it on his sleeve, Johnny is very protective of his V and I live to see it, Making Out, Neck Kissing, Protectiveness, Rated M for sexual innuendos but nothing really happens, Roller Coasters, She loves him a lot too, They're getting their happy ending, V is a streetkid, V is still sick, it's mostly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sea_murai/pseuds/sea_murai
Summary: Instead of replying, he wrapped both arms around her waist and buried his nose on the crook of her neck. Her hand that was resting on his face wrapped itself around his neck, and her other hand continued to rub soothing circles on his scalp. Breathe in, breathe out. Her familiar scent of red rose perfume, vanilla shampoo and cigarettes comforted him more than any amount of nicotine could.V had some important things to tell Johnny, so she took him to one of their favourite spots. Johnny is so in love with his little merc it hurts.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand/Female V, Johnny Silverhand/V
Comments: 11
Kudos: 101





	Lovely

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, SilverV simps! This piece took me some time to write, but I'm absolutely in love with the final result and I hope this fills the SilverV gap that CD left in your lives.
> 
> This is solely based on my V OC (Viola Aragona Viglianco). You can find pictures of her here on my Tumblr:   
> sea-murai.tumblr.com
> 
> Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

‘Quit your pacing, it’s drivin’ me insane’. 

Johnny waved a hand dismissively at the words, rolling his eyes at Rogue. 

‘What am I s’posed to do, then? I’m outta cigs and I can’t drink today. Not about to sit still n’ drive myself insane in the process’.

Rogue cocked an eyebrow at him, amusement clear in her features.

‘Well I’ll be damned. Never thought I’d live to see you nervous, let alone turning down a drink. What’s got your knickers in a twist?’.

‘Nothing’, supplied Johnny curtly. He wasn’t about to spill his heart out to Rogue and tell her he was practically shaking with nerves. 

‘And why exactly are you of all people sayin’ no to alcohol?’.

 _Because I told V I wouldn’t today_ , he thought but didn’t voice these words.

‘Cuz I’m tryin’ out for priesthood’, came the sarcastic answer instead. His organic hand came to play with the necklace V gave him — the one with the bullet that killed her. It brought him some comfort.

Rogue’s eyebrows shot further up her forehead. 

‘That’s more convincing than whatever other lies you can come up with’, replied the woman, grabbing her own glass of whisky and taking a long sip. 

Johnny rolled his eyes again. Fingers slid into the pocket of his black ripped skinny jeans — which he only owned because V once said he would look good in them - and dug out his holo. The reason for his restlessness was in the same state as it had been the last fifteen times he checked. A simple text message from the young woman that occupied all his thoughts despite them not being connected anymore and all it said was _‘Got plans for you and I today. Meet you at Afterlife at 7. And be sober’._ No emoji, no follow-up text, nothing. 

He was about to tug at his own hair. 

‘Where’s V?’, Rogue’s voice broke his trail of thought. 

Johnny froze.

‘I don’t fuckin’ know,’ came the annoyed answer.

‘Hit a sore spot? Y’know, you two are practically attached at the hip. Just a lil weird seein’ you alone’.

She wasn’t wrong. Being stuck in V’s head forced them to spend absurd amounts of time together, but that didn’t change after Mikoshi. 

V had limited time. Her sole focus should have been on finding a cure for herself, not searching for a way to bring him back. It took her a month to find a solution and another 2 months for it to be put into action. Transferring his engram back into a biochip — this time one from the latest generation —, cloning his DNA into a new body that was a copy of his but still different in some aspects and then hoping it would work wasn’t easy on her, he knew that.  
The deal she made to get him back wasn’t all that simple either. It took practically begging Hanako for help despite how V went behind her back originally, then waiting for Hanako to convince the board and the next thing V knew she was stuck being Hanako’s bodyguard. Yorinobu wasn’t ready to stop being a prick and hatched up a plan to kill his own sister. V managed to gather enough evidence, present it to the board and testify with her own story of how the cunt got rid of Saburo. Johnny doesn’t know what happened to Yorinubu after a decision was made - nobody knew, really - but he wasn’t mad about it. One less corpo son of a bitch in the world. That was all that mattered. 

He wanted to be mad at her for putting his well-being over her own, but he couldn’t. Not when he could finally breathe air into his lungs, feel the breeze tickling his skin and taste nicotine again. Not when he could finally feel her skin beneath his fingers, or the silkiness of her dark strands of hair on his hand and stare at how her silver cat-like eyes seemed to shine with relief every time he blew real smoke towards her face. How her laugh sounded like real music to his ears. Not when was, perhaps for the first time, alive. All that rage that followed him like a shadow was gone. Hell, it had drifted away long before he got a new body. Spending his days inside V’s head just did that to him. Now, instead of anger, Johnny had all these mushy feelings inside his chest he didn’t know how to deal with, and the unhealthy amount of time they continued to spend together wasn’t helping.

Not that he was about to complain. He loved spending as much time with her as he possibly could. But a month had passed since he was back and things weren’t looking good for her health. For all they knew, she only had two months left.

The thought terrified him more than he cared to admit.

‘Hello? Earth to Silverhand’, Rogue snapped her fingers in front of his face, tearing him away from his thoughts.

Johnny blinked, shook his head and sighed heavily. He peered out into the club, looking for a familiar head of jet black hair.

‘What's it now, Rogue?'.

He slumped on the couch next to her, looking up towards the ceiling and tapping his fingers on his thigh. His eyes moved to his right arm, analysing the fresh ink with affection. He told V it was only fair he got the same heart and their names tattooed the same way it was on her body, but deep down he knew it wasn't about settling a score that wasn't even there.

Next to him, a familiar voice cut Rogue off as she was coming up with a response. 

"Sup, Rogue. Hope he hasn’t managed to drive ou crazy while I was away".

Johnny almost jumped. As a last-minute reaction, he slumped further in his seat, turning his eyes to the very owner of his thoughts. 

She looked beautiful. Jet black hair framing her face like it always did, silver eyes glowing under the dim lighting of the bar. Her lips were free of any makeup as they always were, but that didn't stop Johnny from thinking about how he wanted to kiss them. No lipstick just meant no mess, and he'd want to kiss V regardless of the situation.

His eyes climbed down to the pieces of exposed skin of her body. The black strapless bustier top left little to the imagination, and Johnny found his eyes drifting from her collarbones to her midriff. The black pants she wore hugged her hips loosely and lower than her usual go-to leather pants. Johnny loved it. Wanted to kiss every inch of skin he could see. But most of all he loved how _his_ dog tags hung around her neck. She wore them every goddamn day since the day he took her to Pistis Sophia and he still wasn't used to it. Maybe seeing it in the flesh was doing things to him his engram form didn't allow.

He knew he wasn't discreet about the way he stared at her, whether it was simply admiring the fact she lived and breathed or if he was simply checking her out because she always looked so damn good. He never was. But that wasn't new, and it was a behaviour she encouraged, so he wasn't about to stop. 

When he looked up at her again, she was smiling at him, eyes shimmering. Johnny's heart skipped a beat and he sighed, resisting the urge to wrap an arm around her waist, pull her to him and kiss her entire face. 

"Ready?," she asked, rolling on the balls of her feet.

"For you, always," he replied without a beat, rising from his seat and going around the small table in front of the couch.

He could see the exact moment Rogue pieced why he was so uneasy and grumpy. Her eyes darted back and forth between him and V and a look for understanding flashed through those scheming irises. Then she sat back and smiled smugly.

Johnny resisted the urge to roll his eyes, wrapped an arm around V's shoulders and began to steer her away before Rogue could make any comments.

"Have fun!," she shouted as they were walking away. 

Johnny sighed, V chuckled and waved her goodbye and the ghost of a smile reached his lips at the sound.

"What's got you in such a rush?," asked the young woman amusedly.

"Nothin'. Just curious to see what you're plannin' for us," he replied, stealing another look at her. It wasn't a complete lie, but he wasn't about to elaborate. 

"Good," said V, a smile tugging at her lips.

The Afterlife was crowded than it usually was and it was all because everybody wanted to get a piece of him. Of course the fucking media was all over him. _Johnny Silverhand and his return from the dead_ , headlines read. Questions upon questions upon questions. Fans wanting pictures, stupid reporters trying to pry answers out of him, conspiracy theorists working full time. Fifty years ago he would have relished the attention, taken the opportunity to hit on every woman he could lay his eyes on, pick fights and drink into oblivion, but now he despised it. 

He couldn’t go to a food stall without people buzzing around him like flies. When they weren’t pestering him, their targets were set on anyone he could be seen interacting with for more than ten minutes. Kerry, Rogue, that chick that worked at the bar — Claire, he’s almost sure —, his old bandmates, even V. Especially V. He wasn't sure how, but she managed to avoid showing any recognisable characteristics of herself in the pictures of them that had been going around.

Now the Afterlife had a ban on photos and videos, and anyone seen challenging Rogue’s authority would be tossed onto the street with a few less limbs to account for. 

Johnny was so fucking done with fame. 

He continued heading towards the corridor that led to the main exit, but V grabbed him by his jacket and stopped him.

‘Backdoor, come on’, she said, steering him by his jacket, his silver arm still wrapped firmly around her shoulders. 

‘My ride is out the front door’, he replied, but didn’t stop walking.

‘As much as I like driving that old thing of yours, right now it’s like walking around with sirens on the top of your head. Not gonna happen’. 

He pushed the button to open the door, dropping his arm from her shoulder so they could go through. The lack of warmth that followed left him empty, and his fingers — both silver and organic — itched to grab her waist. Instead of listening, he sighed internally and followed her to her car.

‘Old thing. That Porsche was a real beauty back in my time, y’know. Show some appreciation’, said Johnny in feigned offence. V laughed, he smiled. 

He was truly fucked.

‘That was what? A hundred years ago? And yet I still like that car better than you’, she turned around, leaning against the hood of the car and crossing her arms over her chest. A playful smile adorned her lips. 

Johnny leaned forward, placing the palms of his hands next to her sides, essentially cornering her between his body and the car. 

‘Really?’, he cocked an eyebrow at her, drawing his face closer to hers. ‘Don’t buy it.’

Her breathing stuttered for a moment, eyes flickering to his lips briefly. His heart skipped a beat. One of V’s hands climbed up towards his neck, softly scratching at the nape of his neck, fingers running through his locks. He melted against her touch, letting out a sigh, the tension in his shoulders dissipating a little. Her other hand came up towards his face, lifting his sunglasses to his forehead. He didn’t even think about protesting. Her fingers came to rest at his cheek, thumb stroking the bearded skin there. 

‘Suppose I’m not great at lying’, said V softly. ‘I still can’t believe you’re here with me’.

Johnny opened his eyes at those words. V was staring at him in a way she often did. Johnny couldn’t exactly place what it was. There was a lot of wonder, but she also looked at him like he hung stars in the sky. Like nothing but him mattered. Like she loved him. 

He couldn’t believe he was living that moment either. 

But as much as he’d like to pretend it was all fine, V was still dying. The thought of existing in a world she didn’t was soul-crushing. He couldn’t lose this. Couldn’t lose her. Didn’t see the point in being given a new shot at life if she wasn’t going to be by his side.

Instead of replying, he wrapped both arms around her waist and buried his nose on the crook of her neck. Her hand that was resting on his face wrapped itself around his neck, and her other hand continued to rub soothing circles on his scalp. Breathe in, breathe out. Her familiar scent of red rose perfume, vanilla shampoo and cigarettes comforted him more than any amount of nicotine could.

‘I can’t lose you, V. I can’t.’

V didn’t respond. She just exhaled shakily and tightened her grip around his neck.

They lost count of time of how long they remained in that embrace. Johnny was ready to stay in that moment forever if he could. But alas, she still had plans for them, so she gently guided his face towards her again and smiled softly.

"Come on. There's somewhere I want to take you," with a lingering kiss to his cheek, V pulled away and walked towards the driver's side of her car. 

Johnny took a deep breath and entered through the passenger's door.

"So… Where we goin'?," he asked, settling in comfortably in the car seat. Caliburn was a really nice ride, he had to admit it..

V laughed softly, extending a hand towards his aviators and taking them off his head. She put them on and started the car. He still wasn’t over how good she looked in anything that was his.

‘You’ll see’.

Johnny knew he wasn’t getting anything else out of her, so he hid away his nervousness and reached for her right hand instead. She let him pull it away from the steering wheel and intertwined their fingers together. She smiled. He did too.

The ride was spent in comfortable silence. Johnny tried to keep his attention on the road to try and figure out where they were going, but all he could do was stare at her. How her fingers tapped a rhythm to a song on the steering wheel when they stopped at a red light; how every now and then she'd give his hand a slight squeeze; how she was alive and breathing and right next to him.

Johnny didn't even notice the car had come to a halt until V had turned to him.

"Come on," she said softly. 

Her hand slipped from his slowly as she exited the car, and he was quick to follow. 

The cold breeze tickled his hair, cheeks and nose in a pleasant way. In a way, he hadn't learned to appreciate in his first life, and wouldn't have learned how to if it wasn't for V. His eyes scanned their surroundings. A parking lot, then wide expanses of water, then the city. His heart jumped in his chest. Could it be-

Johnny turned around, brown eyes following the roller coaster track. A wide smile spread across his lips, followed by an incredulous laugh. 

They hadn't had time to ride the rollercoaster since he came back, something that had been on his mind the past few days. It still seemed V could read his mind even months after Mikoshi.

"I missed this place too, y'know," V stopped in front of him, staring at him with the softest look he'd ever seen on her.

"Never thought I'd get come here with you in the flesh," Johnny murmured. His hands came to rest as her waist, pulling her to him. Her skin was cold to the touch, and he sighed.

"Damnit, sweetheart, told ya to stop leaving the damn house without a jacket. You're cold."

V rolled her eyes fondly.

"I'm fine, Johnny. It's just a little breeze."

Before she could finish her sentence, Johnny was already taking off his jacket and giving it to her.

"Thought you'd have learnt to listen by now, but you're still stubborn as hell," he shook his head, staring at her with warmth in his eyes.

"It's part of my charm", shrugged the young woman. She put his jacket on and was practically swimming in it as she always was. 

Johnny loved to see it every time.

"It smells like you."

"Like smoke and awesomeness?," he took hold of her waist again. 

"Smoke, definitely. But I was thinking more like gonkness," answered V with a side smile. "And something else."

Those silver slits stared back at him so softly at the last phrase Johnny thought he was going to melt on the spot. But Johnny knew V more than anybody else; he could see the glint of sadness in them too. He wanted to take it away, to make it so she's never sad in her life again; to make it all okay.

He loved her so much it hurt.

"Really? And what's that?".

V's eyes flicked from him to the water next to them. One, two, three seconds went by. Four, five. Her dark hair flew with the breeze, strands covering her face, and Johnny gently brushed them behind her ear. She leaned against the touch, then stepped away and took his organic hand. 

She could lead him straight to hell and he wouldn't complain a single thing about the fire.

"Remember when we first came here?," she asked.

How could he forget? 

"It was right after I took you to Pistis Sophia and gave you my dog tags," replied Johnny pensively. "We were both feeling a bit down that day. I was so fuckin' worried cuz you almost flatlined. Thought I'd lost you for good." 

A smile tugged at the corner of V's lips, but her expression remained thoughtful. 

"You surprised me a lot that day, y'know. Showed me a completely different side of you," V took a pause as they climbed the stairs up towards the roller coaster entrance. "I decided something that day."

Johnny's heart was almost slamming against his chest. He was so used to always know what was going around his little merc's head regardless of her state of mind he felt a bit lost now. Hell, he could still read her like a book, but it was different. He had no way of knowing if this little date of theirs was going to end well or poorly. 

He decided to hope for the best.

"Yeah? Gonna tell me?," Johnny swallowed thickly.

He was a bundle of nerves. He even had those stupid butterflies those lunatic romance fans kept mentioning, stuff he thought was bullshit his entire life.

Guess love changed people.

V turned around to face him, hand still linked with his.

"Fuck, this is gonna get sappy. Don't go gettin' used to it," she averted her gaze to the floor before meeting his eyes again. "That day, seeing you laugh and smile like you never had before made me realise how much I liked seeing you happy. I decided right then that smiling Silverhand was my favourite Silverhand." 

Johnny's heart skipped a beat. Words he’d been dying to get out long before he had a body again threatened to spill out his throat against his own volition, but he held them back. He feared this conversation might follow a direction he didn't want it to follow, one that resulted in a goodbye he wasn't ready to bid.

But then she smiled, and he couldn't help himself from smiling too. 

V's smile turned into a sad, melancholic one as she led a hand to cup his cheek.

‘This is how I wanna remember ya when I’m gone’. 

His smile slowly faded, eyes shutting to prevent her from seeing the sadness in them, but she’d be able to read him like a book anyways. 

_Gone_. He couldn’t bear thinking about it. They’d find a way to keep her alive, even if he had to sell his own damn soul for it. 

V guided him towards the roller coaster carts in silence, and they continued to be silent as they entered and pulled down the restraints. Johnny busied himself with trying to swallow the thick knot lodged in his throat. 

His left hand lies limp on the seat, next to V’s right hand, their fingers grazing but not properly touching. When the cart began rolling out of the station and forward onto the tracks, she hooked her pinkie with his. 

It was all so different from last time. For one, he could feel the wind tickling his hair, his beard, his arms. He could breathe it all in, from V’s perfume next to him to the city smells - pollution and toxic chemicals mostly. He could truly feel how his heart raced and his stomach dropped right with the cart. V’s laughter and screams echoed in his ears in a way that was so close like it never had before, but so far from hearing it in his own body instead of her own head. His laughter was different too. It was real. 

The cart came to an unexpected halt when it was right at the top of one of the last drops. Johnny frowned, trying to sneak a look around the cart. No fucking way they were stuck now when he was so close to finding out why V brought him there in the first place. He wouldn’t mind spending hours — days even — trapped somewhere with her, but of all places he envisioned, a damned roller coaster cart was at the bottom of the list. 

When he turned his face to V. she was pushing the restraint upwards — his too —, hooking her right leg under her left leg and turning to face it. His frown turned into a wide-eyed look of panic.

‘V, what the hell? ‘S not safe to take the restraint off, this thing’s probably older than me’, he said, lifting his hands towards the restraint. V shook her head, took his hands and placed them on her lap.

She wanted him to have a heart attack and die, he was sure of it. Scenarios of the cart gaining its ability to move again quicker than any of them could think and V being thrown off filled his mind. 

‘Relax, old man. I jammed it on purpose’.

When Johnny’s expression of concern and panic didn’t fade, V rolled her eyes and squeezed his hands. She scooted closer and placed both his hands on her waist.

‘There. Now stop worryin’, I’m trying to tell you something’. 

Johnny squeezed the fingers that gripped soft skin, finding some comfort in the fact he was able to hold her. 

‘Princess, you’re killin’ me here. There something wrong?’, said Johnny, apprehension in his voice almost palpable. 

If fifty years ago somebody said to him he’d be this vulnerable with somebody, he would have laughed in their face.

Next to him, V took a deep breath. Her eyes drifted from his own to the skyline before them.

‘Panam found me a cure. It might not work, but chances are lookin’ good, Johnny. I’m not gonna die’, a smile crossed her lips, but it faded as quickly as it came.

Johnny had never been so overwhelmed with happiness and relief in his entire life. It spread from his chest to his entire body like wildfire, consuming and burning and making him dizzy. He couldn’t believe his own ears and eyes. _V was going to live_. His lips spread up in a smile he wasn’t even fully aware of, still trapped in the daze that those words caused. He wanted to grab her and kiss her and hold her so tight he’d meld his body with hers; breathe in that scent of red roses and vanilla and cigarettes and thank deities he didn’t believe in.

But his little merc looked sad, and he knew there was more to come. So he ignored the anxiety that was eating him inside out and waited.

V swallowed, exhaled a shaky breath and averted her eyes to her boot resting on the floor. A few seconds passed, but Johnny didn’t press.

‘I’m leaving the City in three days’. 

And there it was.

Johnny was sure there was an invisible choom hiding in the shadows waiting for that exact moment to land a punch right to his stomach. 

He couldn’t breathe. V was leaving him. After everything they went through, after their very souls bonded in ways he didn’t think possible, after all the moments he thought meant something. After she taught him what really was to be human. After she taught him what it was like to love. 

He knew she was going after the Aldecaldos at some point — she was, after all, part of them — but he didn’t think it’d be so soon. He didn’t believe he’d stay behind in a City without his little merc.

Betrayal never tasted like it did now. Desolating. Like a hand made of dark, gloomy clouds wrapping around his neck, sliding to his chest and squeezing, taking away any traces of happiness that was there mere seconds ago. It never felt like heart-wrecking sadness. Like heartbreak.

He didn’t even have the means to be angry at her. Didn’t know how to, never did, not even when he pretended to.

‘I want you to come with me’, V’s voice brought him to reality just as his fingers had begun to slack against her skin.

His heart jumped like it was the Olympics, fearing those words had been a trick of his mind; a product created by it in an attempt to protect himself from the inevitable.

‘What?’, his voice came out quiet, barely a whisper.

V ran her hands down her face, letting out a shaky laugh.

‘Fuck, I’m terrible at this’, she breathed. 

When her eyes met Johnny’s again, they were brimming with tears.

‘I said I want you to come with me, you dumbass! Don’t you see?’, V’s voice trembled as she spoke, a stubborn tear escaping its confinement and trailing down her cheek. ‘If I’m gonna die, I need you there with me, and if I’m gonna live I need you with me too. I’ve never done this before or felt like this before, I’m scared I’ll fuck it up, but I can’t leave without trying. I can’t leave without knowing if this is one-sided and I should just fucking get over myself or if I’m not wrong and there is something here.’

Tears continued to stubbornly stream down her face and the more she tried to wipe them away, the harder they came down. She ended up crossing her arms over her chest and avoiding his gaze.

‘Listen, I’m not gonna be mad if this isn’t how you feel, I know you love Night City, you just got your body back and you probably want to take advantage of it all. I just thought-’

Johnny’s heart was frantic, his head was spinning and the turbulence of feelings swimming in his chest made it hard for him to think straight, but he didn’t need to think. He knew he’d go anywhere as long as he’d have her beside him. 

So, he did what he did best: putting a smile on her face.

‘Huh. And you wanted me to buy that bullshit that you liked my ride better than me’, he relaxed against the back of the cart, dragging her body closer. A smug smile tugged at his lips.

Much to his pleasure, V chuckled before attempting a glare at his direction - not that it did much because her mouth was still set in a pout from crying, the freckles on her cheeks and nose were more apparent under the redness that had set on them and her make up was runny. Johnny thought it looked cute.

‘Johnny. I swear to God, I will throw you off this cart’. 

She smacked his arm when he started laughing, which made him laugh even harder, but when her pouted lips began quivering again, he knew to stop.

‘Look at me, princess’, Johnny led organic fingers toward her chin, gently holding it between his thumb and index and tipping her face towards his. ‘Fuck Night City’.

‘The only good thing this fuckin’ shithole gave me was you, and ‘m not about to lose that. Not about to let you go. So yeah, V, I'm comin' with you. Wouldn't even dream of doing anythin’ else’.

"You're serious?’, V’s eyes scanned his face anxiously.

‘’M always serious about you, sweetheart’. 

V's face lit up, a smile spreading her lips wide and bright. Johnny's heart swelled with it. Goddamn it, he couldn't take it anymore, he needed her. Needed to kiss her. 

Johnny's organic hand slowly crept up her waist, going up towards the curve of her neck and stopping when it cupped her cheek. Her eyes kept flickering between his own and his lips as she unconsciously brought herself closer to him. He ran his thumb along her bottom lip, parting her mouth open and eliciting a soft gasp from her. The sound sent blood rushing through his groin.

"Fuck, V, you're way too pretty for your own damn good," said the man, tipping his head to the side a little and bumping his nose with hers. 

"Just shut up and kiss me." 

He didn't need any more incentive.

When their lips touched for the first time, it was electric. It spread in waves through his body, starting in all parts of her that were touching him all the way down to his toes. The first kiss was soft, lingering; the second one a little more urgent, and V started smiling through the third one. He kept leaving little pecks on her lips over and over and over again because she couldn’t stop smiling and it made him smile a little too, but he wanted more. Wanted to commit her taste to memory, to take her breath again, to make up for all the lost time.

‘Stop laughin’ or I’ll find another way to put that pretty mouth of yours to use’, said Johnny, voice a little gruffer than usual.

He watched with satisfaction as the slits on her silver eyes expanded, breathing stuttered and the grip on his hair tightened. This time, she opened her mouth to meet his, tongues moving against each other in a slow pace. The more they kissed, the more urgent it got. She tugged at his hair, drawing a low moan from his throat, and in retaliation he pulled her bottom lip between his teeth, relishing in the gasp and breathy sigh that followed. His silver hand gingerly climbed down towards her thigh, giving it a squeeze and drawing another moan from the young woman. Red roses and vanilla and a very faint scent of cigarette smoke was all he could smell, and it was driving him crazy. 

She tasted even sweeter than she smelled. He wanted more and more and more of her, couldn’t get enough, not with her hands tugging on his hair and her lips on his and his hands all over her and all that sweetness that threatened to make his entire body erupt into flames in the most delicious way possible. 

His mouth left hers and started tailing down her neck, kissing, biting, sucking on the sensitive skin and drawing the most wonderful sounds out of her parted lips. The soothed the marks left by his ministrations with his tongue, crazy to hear more of her and feel every inch of pale skin under his touch. 

She began to move closer to him, hooking one leg next to his thigh and straddling his lap. But just as she did, the cart jumped forward about an inch, catching them completely off guard. Johnny’s heart jumped with it and his grip on V’s waist tightened enough to bruise with the jumpscare. 

They had completely forgotten they were in that damned roller coaster cart.

‘Fuck me’, both said in unison. 

‘You stole my line’, pointed out Johnny, a smirk crossing his lips.

‘Really? That’s what you’re worried about?’, V stared at him incredulously, slowly removing herself off her lap and back onto the seat. He didn’t miss the smile she tried to hide as she lowered the restraint again.

‘Nah. Have other things in mind’, he answered, gripping the inside of her thigh with his left hand. The metal fingers glowed under the moon.

V’s legs spread just a little under his touch, and the cocky smile was back on his face.

‘Let’s get off this thing, then’.

They rode what remained of the roller coaster track laughing into the night, enjoying the wind and the final drop that brought them back into the start. Johnny exited the cart first, then barely waited for V’s feet to land on the ground before wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in for another kiss. 

He was over the moon with how she immediately melted against his touch, lips parting against his and a hand coming up to the back of his neck. Johnny lost count of how long they spent there standing by that old roller coaster and kissing each other silly. 

‘You didn’t tell me what else I smell like earlier’, said the man when they pulled away, now moving to nuzzle her neck. He bit down on her skin just because he could.

V tipped her head to give him more access, but he pulled away to look at her face. The disappointed sound that escaped her throat brought a smirk to his lips.

‘Like a fuckin’ tease’, she huffed, tugging at his hair a little harder. Johnny inhaled sharply, head tipping back and scraping his teeth on his bottom lip. 

He opened his mouth to give her some sass and then ask again what she really meant, but suddenly V’s hand on his hair was gone and she was falling forwards and coughing her lungs out. Johnny watched in panic as she coughed more and more blood into her hand, holding her when her legs gave out.

‘Fuckin’ hell, Viola, don’t you even think about flatlining on me right now!’, he gripped her tighter, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she continued hacking scarlet liquid. Her left hand kept a death grip on the fabric of his shirt. 

When she stopped coughing and spasming, he lowered them both onto the ground, carefully cradling the young woman in his lap. His right hand continued to rub circles onto her back while his left hand came to run its fingers through her soft strands of jet black hair.

He tried to find consolation in the fact she wouldn’t be dying anymore in a few days. That it would all be okay, that he wouldn’t lose her. He tried to focus on how she felt real beneath his fingertips; how he had her, truly had her and neither of them were letting go of each other any time soon, and for now, that was enough.

‘Feelin’ a little better now?, Johnny asked softly. His lips pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head and his arms held her just a little tighter.

V shook her head.

‘Not really, but I’ll live. For now’.

‘One more week and this will all be a bad memory. I’m not lettin’ you flatline anytime soon, even if you’re still a bit of a cunt’.

She laughed weekly. 

‘And you’re a fucking prick-’, another coughing fit made V cut herself midsentence. When it stopped, she simply rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

‘You can insult me all you want later, sweetheart. Right now you gotta rest’, 

Much to Johnny’s delight, V didn’t emit a single sound of protest. She simply snuggled further into him and relaxed. Under his caresses, it didn’t take long for her breathing to even out and her body to completely relax against his. 

With a last kiss to the top of her head, Johnny gently lifted them both off the floor. He carried her over to her car and was very careful not to wake her up as he placed her sleeping form on the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt on her — something V herself never did when she was driving. From his experience, it should be illegal for her to even have a license with the way she drove.

He took out his holo and left Kerry a message that he’d be staying with V tonight because she was sick. He didn’t have to be that specific, but this time he was going to do things right instead of hinting at subtext that didn’t match reality. And though fifty years ago he probably would have let Kerry believe he was out overdosing in some ditch, now he was a changed man and was trying to be a good friend. That included letting the person he was currently living with know that he was safe. 

On the way back, his eyes wouldn’t anxiously stop glancing at V’s sleeping figure to make sure she was still alive and breathing. He was scared, but at least now he had something to look forward to into his future. 

That was more than enough to him.


End file.
